Ebook: Data visualization tools (English)

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Data visualization tools make it possible to interpret thousands of pieces of data for the user to perceive and process information.

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THE KEYS IN
THE DATA ANALYSIS

DATA

VISUALIZATION
TOOLS
01
04

INTERVIEW

Rafael Höhr

CASE STUDY

‘Opportunity
Project’

02
05

Telling what's
going on
through data
INFOGRAPHY

Data visualization
tools

INNOVATION TRENDS SERIES

03

10 data
visualization
tools

01/INTERVIEW
Rafael Höhr:
"Animation is
necessary even though
there is a higher risk of
making a mistake"
The attacks in Belgium on March 23 cut the interview short.
Rafael Höhr had to begin interpreting the information from
Brussels to create infographics for the website of the Spanish
newspaper El País. An expert in infographics and a partner at
Prodigioso Volcán, Höhr stresses how important data visualization
is to be able to make sense out of today's information overload.

INNOVATION TRENDS SERIES · MARCH 2016 · www.centrodeinnovacionbbva.com/en

Why is data visualization
necessary?
Data visualization makes it
possible to understand the
huge amount of information
we have access to. lt's
impossible for readers to
reasonably process the amount
of data to which we have
access thanks to software,
portals and information. We
need to visualize this data,
streamline it and shape it. And
this can't be in text format; it
needs to be in visual format.

What can infographics offer
a bank?
Banks handle huge amounts of
data: economic, positioning,
social and geographic. Correct
visualization helps you

understand or effectively
inform a work group of the
result of a study or even view
new fields within this data.
Having to go through an
endless Excel file is not the
same as being able to play
around with parameters to
make decisions. Data
visualization helps banks make
decisions, view their
environment, view what's really
out there, understand what
they have and, most
importantly, uncover niches
that have been overlooked.
Visualization is also useful for
customers since having banks
move our money is no longer
enough. Customers demand
transparency and want to

INNOVATION TRENDS SERIES · MARCH 2016 · www.centrodeinnovacionbbva.com/en

know what is being done with
their money. Just like the
banks, they need to make
decisions which need to be
based on real information.

Is animation information?
Animation is mostly misinformation.
Animation marks before and after;
it already offers a process. If you
make a mistake, you are
misinformed. When you turn
information into animated format,
you are dealing with a delicate
operation and, as such, there is a
higher risk that you will make a
mistake.

Rather than information, this is a
necessity. Interactive infographics,
animated infographics or object
animation replace arrows on
traditional printed media and in the
traditional reading of cartoons and
graphic novels. However, you need
to be a lot more precise. You can
get a street or number wrong...
Time and space are information.

INNOVATION TRENDS SERIES · MARCH 2016 · www.centrodeinnovacionbbva.com/en

Is it hard to close a
visualization?
To the extent that data keeps
growing, any visualization will
keep growing and
parameters and interaction
will even change. Interacting
with 20 pieces of data is not
the same as interacting with
2,000. When you create a
user interface to interact with
those 2,000 pieces, they
have already increased to
4,000 and you need to
change the parameters,
segmentation and even the
type of visualization.
Is it better to work with little
or a lot of data?
It's the same. In the end, you
need to summarize the original

data as little data. When you
work with a lot of data, you
need to be more precise in
your final message. But the
user is in charge. Users will not
access all of this data because
they don't have time and are
bound to get bored. Since they
don't have a lot of time, we
need to provide them with
perfectly processed data. It
doesn't matter whether we have
two or millions of pieces of
data; we need to make it
accessible to users.

What is the required
professional profile?
There is a lot of talk about "data
journalists" who are basically
people with certain statistical,
mathematical and technological
knowledge that know how to
use the tools to search for and

INNOVATION TRENDS SERIES · MARCH 2016 · www.centrodeinnovacionbbva.com/en

clean this data; they are
masters at using Excel. But we
need more than information
processing; we need
visualization.
You need someone specialized
in infographics who knows that
type of graphics match a
specific communication
purpose, and what type of
graphics is accessible since
some of them can skew reality.
You need someone with a
profile and knowledge about
graphics and statistics. And I
would also say you need
someone from usability. In a
dynamic visualization on digital
media someone needs to make
everything work at the click of a
button. And the data journalist
needs to edit the final content.

What is the hardest part of
your job?
The hardest thing about
visualization is not to lose track
of your purpose. It is very easy
to be influenced since there is a
lot out there, you learn by
copying and seeing other

people and watching trends.
You normally use software that
comes to you.
Often you make things hard for
yourself but it's really very
simple: What does the user
want? Where are they going to
get it from? How do I explain

INNOVATION TRENDS SERIES · MARCH 2016 · www.centrodeinnovacionbbva.com/en

this data volume to the user?
And this is the hard part: Am I
going to use three actions,
three interactions, an
animation...? This decision
determines whether or not the
message goes across to the
user.

What are the sources used
to visualize terrorist attacks,
accidents...?
First, we need to know where
the tragedy took place. You
look for the location and build
the story from there. You need
to restrain yourself when you
go into the details of breaking
news since you often need to
be very precise in what you
pick. Then you feed the
information into the project
(from the most basic to the
most complex) until you get the
right result.
Technically speaking, google
maps is the best and quickest
option. We also use CartoDB for
development purposes. We use
ready-made templates and
customize the tool to publish

the map online. Alternatively,
you can use illustrator or design
the map by hand and create a
static map. There is a wide
range of options.

the experimentation phase. It
means that money is lost but I
think that any technological
advancement of this type will
be used in the end.

Are videos or Virtual Reality
going to be the end of
infographics?

What visualization tools
would you recommend?

No, they are complementary.
We are working on how to
insert infographics into Virtual
Reality to explain certain things
and add value to the content.
We are exporting graphics
within VR. For example, if you
are "inside a video" watching the
Fukushima nuclear power plant,
the reactor's elements can be
explained using an infographic.

Is it very expensive?
Right now yes because we're in

INNOVATION TRENDS SERIES · MARCH 2016 · www.centrodeinnovacionbbva.com/en

At the moment (and this will
change) we have precise tools
in Tableau which is very
consistent, Carto DB for
geolocation, Mapbox or
Quadrigam which is a fun tool
that is used by Bestiario.
Datawrapper is very simple but
is taking gigantic steps forward
and I think it will become a
purchase option for the media.
It offers a lot of basic graphic
possibilities and very simple
maps.

In terms of media
specialized in finance and
economics, which ones do
you think use visualization
well?
I like Financial Times a lot. They
are creating very simple and
small graphics which are perfect
for cell phones, and their
information is easy to

remember. As for general
media, the New York Times is
the best. The visual journalist
Archie Tse works wonders. And
Berliner Morgenpost is also very
good.

Which infographic are you
most proud of?
The one about Caesarean
sections for the World Health

INNOVATION TRENDS SERIES · MARCH 2016 · www.centrodeinnovacionbbva.com/en

Organization. It's very thorough
and you feel proud because
you think it's going to be useful.
It consists of small visualizations
with classifications of Caesarean
sections: their types and when
they are performed. This is an
infographic that can be used all
over the world by different
cultures.

And the strangest?
There are many! Sometimes
you realize that they are not
asking for a graphic... Other
times you start creating a
graphic and realize it's not
possible, that it's not the right
medium for the story.

Do you think a lot about the
device when you work?
Yes. A graphic is conceived
depending on which device will
be used. You need to think of
how it will be consumed. You
don't need to distort the
visualization but you need to
adapt it to the user. Users don't

dedicate as much time to
content on cell phones as they
do on their computers.

What makes a graphic
successful?
It needs to be very simple. Text
information means time: you
receive, analyze and interpret
content through text. Visual,
graphical information is quick. It
needs to be simple enough for
there to be no obstacle
between the user and them
understanding the text. It must
be simple but have some
movement, a bit of a spark that
draws your attention.

INNOVATION TRENDS SERIES · MARCH 2016 · www.centrodeinnovacionbbva.com/en

Are users requesting more
infographics?
A lot more. And they are not
accessing more graphical information
because of the media. The entire
technology environment is using this.
When we access technology we are
used to working with a user interface.
Sometimes we need an explanation
and sometimes we don't. In any case,
instructions are graphical; rendering
takes the shape of graphics;
interactions with leisure elements
(there are maps, routes and prices
when you book a flight) or
videogames are graphics. The more
technology is used, the more graphics
are a common sight.
INNOVATION TRENDS SERIES · MARCH 2016 · www.centrodeinnovacionbbva.com/en

02

Telling what's
going on
through data

Data visualization tools make it
possible to interpret thousands of
pieces of data for the user to
perceive and process information.
Data visualization can transform
numerical data relationships into
visual impacts and understanding
the information. Today there are
many useful tools to carry out the
data visualization process.

INNOVATION TRENDS SERIES · MARCH 2016 · www.centrodeinnovacionbbva.com/en

BBVA Research is one of the
companies that uses Big Data to
monitor geopolitical and social
events. As highlighted: "The
project of the global database
of events, language and tone
(GDELT) is an open global
database of human society
according to the world's media,
which delves into the events,
reactions and emotions of
each part of the world in near
real time. All this information is
available for free to research,
analyze, visualize and even
predict human society
according to global news
coverage. It also includes a
complete, high-resolution
catalog of sociopolitical events

that are geo- referenced from
1979 to present”.
The GDELT project keeps track
of every printed and digital
news report that is available
worldwide every 15 minutes in
over 100 languages. The
information is processed using
a variety of algorithms to
identify hundreds of categories
of events (from protests to calls
for peace), thousands of
emotions (from anxiety to
happiness), millions of narrative
themes (from women's rights to
access to drinking water), as
well as locations, individuals,
organizations and other
indicators.

INNOVATION TRENDS SERIES · MARCH 2016 · www.centrodeinnovacionbbva.com/en

As explained in this Forbes
article its cofounder, Kalev
Leetaru (one of the fathers of
GDETL) created a global-scale
visualization map in 2011 to
highlight how cities were
connected through the news.
Leetaru seeks to break the
geographical frontiers of
countries to create natural
communities following the
patterns of mentions of
countries in the media. The
map drawn is divided into 6
main groups which includes, for
example, the ties between
France and Portugal with
African colonies, Spain with
Latin America or the ties
between Canada and the
Middle East due to the
discussion of their role in the
Afghan conflict.

In 2012 he explored global
geographic networks through
the eyes of twitter and realized
that cities are connected
through retweets. Retweeted
users not only reference users
who are close to them but
those who are on the other side
of the planet. Proximity
communication theories in a
medium like Twitter does not
make sense.
As stated in this article in El
Espectador, Leetaru devised the
GDELT system that is able to
translate global information in
real time in two and a half
months. His intention is to help
the fight against terrorism. The
GDELT automatically translates
into English all the global news

INNOVATION TRENDS SERIES · MARCH 2016 · www.centrodeinnovacionbbva.com/en

that it monitors in 65
languages, representing 98.4%
of its volume of daily
monitoring of news that is not
in English. While machine
translation is imperfect,
according to the author this is a
way to at least identify the
events, people, organizations
and other circumstances related
to violent extremism elsewhere.
Unlike the Pentagon's efforts,
"the GDELT can operate on
world languages in real time,
instead of being limited to a

small group of Western news
agencies in English to
understand events taking place
in some remote corner of the
world," Leetaru said.
With this initiative of mass
translation, at least the US may
depend less and less on its own
news agencies to track down its
enemy, terrorism, and expand
the areas in which it can
monitor it. However, for
Leetaru only archiving the
information is not enough; it
must be analyzed. He has

INNOVATION TRENDS SERIES · MARCH 2016 · www.centrodeinnovacionbbva.com/en

therefore also driven systems to
display in the map patterns of
socio-cultural issues or those
related to human rights, which
could lead to a better
understanding of certain
groups, ethnicities, religions in
certain regions; or display on
the world map areas of the
greatest violations of Human
Rights, once multiple reports by
international organizations that
defend these rights are
indexed.

03

10 data
visualization tools
Having good information and reliable data is only the first step to
achieving a presentation or story that attracts your audience's
attention. There are several online tools available today that enable
us to visualize data more clearly and effectively than if we content
ourselves with presenting them in a traditional way.
Although each tool has its own
features, they generally work by
importing the data, choosing
the visualization options and
then publishing it. Today we're
assured that all the best-known
tools can be used without any
knowledge of programming and
that the graphics they produce

are already optimized for mobile
devices and can be shared
instantly on the social networks.
They also offer free versions
and user communities to share
tips and good practices for their
use. Here are some of the
recommended tools for data
visualization:

INNOVATION TRENDS SERIES · MARCH 2016 · www.centrodeinnovacionbbva.com/en

Tableau
This is one of the most popular
free tools for visualizing data
interactively. The graphs it
creates are optimized to be
viewed and to work well in
cellphones, tablets and
computers. Its website includes
video tutorials and live sessions
with Tableau experts to teach
you to use the tool.

https://youtu.be/Z5kQR71yJpE

Datawrapper
Very popular and easy to use
for interactive and responsive
visualizations. It offers
everything from classic bar
charts, tables and maps
through to more complex
visualizations. It also allows you
to customize the colors, fonts
and other graphic elements to

adapt the graph's appearance
to the website where you plan
to insert.
https://youtu.be/Ni8PmmC2IWs

Infogram
This is one of the most widely
used by the media and
educational sites. It has a
selection of templates, icons
and other elements that serve
as support for the graphs, in
which you can also insert
images and videos.
https://youtu.be/oO2injQpF_A

Piktochart
The service specializes in the
creation of infographs. It has a
wide range of over 4,000
templates and elements for
creating graphics, and a very

INNOVATION TRENDS SERIES · MARCH 2016 · www.centrodeinnovacionbbva.com/en

attractive system of choosing
and dragging elements to the
templates. The photographs are
ready for interactive
presentation or to be
downloaded in high resolution
in .jpg, .png or PDF formats.
https://youtu.be/SzI9RzvnwZA

Google
This is an experimental app
from Google. Its interface may
not be the most attractive, but
it's very powerful, as it is
intended to handle colossal
amounts of data. It also allows
you to work collaboratively
through Google Drive and
visualize the data in Google
Maps.
https://youtu.be/p0xnk9zFQpY

Chartblocks
Chartblocks specializes in
creating graphics that are ready
to share, in a simple way. It has
an "Assistant" feature to select
the most suitable data for each
graph. The visualizations it
creates are optimized in high
quality for all screens and for
high-res printing.

https://youtu.be/1HPm8flGb5w
?list=PLHqEISQBSsC60RxfR4zODLvFn4XMnw
Oo

Thinglink Thinglink
Thinglink is an interactive photo
tool. It allows you to include all
types of elements on a
background image –such as
videos, audio, text and links to
other sites– to enrich and
complement the information
shown in the photo while you
hover over it.
https://youtu.be/pChlenkNWos

INNOVATION TRENDS SERIES · MARCH 2016 · www.centrodeinnovacionbbva.com/en

Google Maps

Dipity Dipity

Canva

The tool we all use to find
where we are also allows us to
create our own maps with geolocalized information. Its many
uses such as locating places of
interest for particular themes,
creating sightseeing routes or
telling journalistic stories by
pinpointing the geographic
places being mentioned.

Dipity is a tool for creating
timelines. Its interface works
well and is easy to use. It offers
several visualizations for a
timeline and can include links to
expand the information
included in it.

This is a very attractive platform
with hundreds of graphic
designs to create presentations.
It includes an image bank, filters
for photos, textures, effects,
icons and fonts. It has an
intuitive interface and is very
focused on attractive design.

https://youtu.be/huayzb-0NGs

https://youtu.be/V8jbtv2pegg
https://youtu.be/a3fnrjq_R4M

04

"Opportunity Project":
The White House
shares thousands of
pieces of data
The Obama administration wants government data to be available
to developers to build technological tools that improve the
relationship between cities and their citizens.
The White House has a lot of outdated data hosted in inaccessible
file systems. For this reason, the Obama administration has decided
to create Opportunity Project, based on civilian technology tools,
which makes that large volume of data accessible.

INNOVATION TRENDS SERIES · MARCH 2016 · www.centrodeinnovacionbbva.com/en

Earlier this year the White
House, the U.S. Census Bureau
and the Department of Housing
and Urban Development met
with several developers. The
reason for this meeting was to
facilitate the construction of
digital tools that will enable all
citizens to access information,
allowing them to improve their
quality of life.
This project came to light on
Monday March 7 and contains
all kinds of data, from those
related to crime, extra curricular
activities to those related to job
vacancies.

It was Obama who came up
with the idea of launching a
project of this magnitude.
During his two terms he has
worked to modernize the
government and increase
investment in technology to
simplify bureaucratic processes.
DJ Patil, U.S. Chief Data
Scientist, said that the President
is focused on achieving that
information benefits all people.
And what really matters to
Obama is the impact that
technology has on each
individual.

INNOVATION TRENDS SERIES · MARCH 2016 · www.centrodeinnovacionbbva.com/en

Some local governments
cannot afford the investment
needed to have more
accessible data. Therefore, the
intention of Opportunity Project
is for developers to generate
tools that allow access to
information for citizens to make
decisions more easily.

The website has 12 tools
which, from an application, for
example help families find a
home near a good school, or
allow them to compare areas to
show the inequality in the
country.

SERIE FINTECH · MARCH 2016 · www.centrodeinnovacionbbva.com/en

The site also shows some
citizens who have used these
types of civic technology tools.
You can see the case of a family
that has had to move and has
used these tools to find a home
that meets their needs.

05/INFOGRAPHIC
Data visualization tools
Data visualization turns numerical data into visual
representations so that information can be understood.
Nowadays, there are countless useful data visualization tools.

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INNOVATION TRENDS SERIES · MARCH 2016 · www.centrodeinnovacionbbva.com/en

Languages and tools
XML

pandas

SQL

SQLite

mxODBC

RSQlite

pyODBC

json

Toad

RJDBC

Tora
RapidMiner

RODBC

Data.table

Pentaho

INNOVATION TRENDS SERIES · MARCH 2016 · www.centrodeinnovacionbbva.com/en

Knime

Data sources
Facebook process

More than

350GB

100 millions

of data

of data
Twitter users
send

100%
92%

277.000

571

72 hours

Sprint processes

0f new

250.000

news websites

tweets

1 minute

More than

2 million

Youtube videos

Google
searches

INNOVATION TRENDS SERIES · MARCH 2016 · www.centrodeinnovacionbbva.com/en

calls
Walmart processes

17.000

transactions

How it work
Information not only needs to be managed, it needs to be managed in a secure and quick manner. This gives
fast and effective access to information to customers, collaborators and employees.

Analytics

Storage

Analytical
applications

Application
data

Transactions
Business
applications

Device
data
Social media

Cloud-based
Applications

Management
INNOVATION TRENDS SERIES · MARCH 2016 · www.centrodeinnovacionbbva.com/en

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